long day's journey

Publisher's note

Photo: Jonah Rosenberg

This isn't a nightlife issue. Instead, this month our contributors explore the atypical: what happens when parades come to an end, traditional responsibilities at least temporarily subside, alter-egos are assumed, and a general spirit of the upside-down pervades. After all, in a city that insists for some reason that it never sleeps, the long night can stretch well into daylight.

Have you ever felt watched by people whose faces you don't know, or like a stranger in your own home? What if that home was the only one of its kind left, or your view of the nation's most iconic monument was its back, your sightline forever stained by endless tall towers across the river?

New York presents its night as a time when wishes can be fulfilled, fears can come to fruition, and dreams can be enacted in real time. But presentation is often misleading, and answers to any of these questions are always too complicated to answer directly. With that in mind: what would you like to drink?